S. Korea rejects Trump demand that it pay for US missile system

Seoul, April 28: Seoul on Friday brushed aside US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that it should pay for a $1 billion missile defence system the two allies are installing in South Korea to guard against threats from the North. The first parts of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system have already been delivered to a former golf course in the South.

Top US officials have said Thaad will be operational “within days”.

“I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It’s a billion-dollar system,” Mr Trump was quoted as saying. “It’s phenomenal, shoots missiles right out of the sky.”

The two countries have been in a security alliance since the 1950-53 Korean war. Over 28,000 US troops are stationed in the South.

Seoul retorted that under Status of Forces Agreement that governs the US military presence in the country, the South would provide the Thaad site and infrastructure while the US would pay to deploy and operate it. “There is no change to this basic position,” South Korea’s defence ministry said.

A top foreign policy adviser to South Korean presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in said on Friday that Mr Trump’s was giving an “impossible option”. “Even if we purchase Thaad, its main operation would be in the hands of the US,” said Kim Ki-jung, a foreign policy advisor to Mr Moon.